Not backcountry related, but our country lost a talented flyer and a gifted writer at NAS Fallon this week. Captain Carroll "Lex" LeFon (USN, Ret), aka Neptunus Lex. Former Top Gun XO, flying for a civilian contractor who provided training bogeys for pilots training for deployment.

I really enjoyed his series about life aboard ship:

http://www.neptunuslex.com/rhythms-the-compendium/

His piece about the empty chair has now taken on new meaning:

http://www.neptunuslex.com/2006/09/15/the-empty-chair-2/


Sorry if this is a little off the beaten path, but fellow aviators should mourn the passing of a good stick and a good man like this.

Sad deal... He almost landed on top of Mr Scout's house.

Gump

Finest CO, Naval Aviator, and Officer I have ever had the pleasure of serving with.

A bit of his poetry:

When I first thought about serving my country, I considered the Air Force, but decided I’d rather be in the military instead. My father told me once that in the Army, you’d live like rats and die like gentlemen. In the Navy, you’d live like gentlemen, and die like rats. I rather counted on living, and that has made all the difference.

More tributes from Capt. Lex's colleagues, and a good article to boot:

http://blog.usni.org/2012/03/07/a-remar ... 1960-2012/

Alan

I'm not ex-military or ex-anything so I'd never heard of this man. However, after reading through the Neptunus Lex website I can definitively say the world has lost a wealth of intellect and wisdom in the loss of this man. The man truly was a warrior poet. My condolences to his friends and family.

I feel the same way, Scott (I'm also not ex-anything, and admire the hell out of those who serve). I wasn't even a regular reader of his blog, but I can't help but feel that we lost something really special this week. I'm awed by the massive contribution he managed to make in his 51 years, between all the folks he served with, led, and trained, as well as the many people he affected with his thought-provoking writings.

I don't mean to sound hokey, but thank goodness he didn't "hide his light under a bushel," as they say, and chose instead to share his passion and energy with the rest of us. He left an amazing legacy behind in his body of relationships and writings. Truly inspirational, and gone too soon.

Sounds like low vis and ceilings, howling winds, and gas tank on empty. Bad, bad combination.

http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/ARTICL ... 3/1056/RSS

Gump

I spent three years teaching fighter tactics and flying bad guy aircraft out of Fallon. When the weather gets bad it's usually bad in Reno too and that doesn't leave a lot of options within fuel range after a hop. It's an uncomfortable position to be in. Very sad.

RR wrote:I spent three years teaching fighter tactics and flying bad guy aircraft out of Fallon. When the weather gets bad it's usually bad in Reno too and that doesn't leave a lot of options within fuel range after a hop. It's an uncomfortable position to be in. Very sad.

RR, I read some commentary from other Fallon pilots about Ground Control Approach radar operators giving bad steers which resulted in overshoots in the past. I'd be curious to know whether you have any opinion on GCA based on your experience.

(Caveat: I'm neither military, nor IFR, so I'm talking about things I don't know here. I don't mean this as an indictment of the GCA guys, and have no idea whether this contributed to this incident. I raise this question more in terms of why Fallon doesn't have a full-fledged ILS system to handle the combination of fast movers/bad weather, rather than any suggestion that GCA was somehow a factor.)

An option out of Fallon is Hawthorne, which is almost always VFR (and was that day) even though there's no approach into there.

I wasn't there so I can't say for this incident, but after a career of flying in Arctic Alaska with huge distances, shit weather, and no place to get gas, I am no stranger to being puckered... But when Plan A and Plan B are FUBAR, you'd better be ready to commit to Plan C instantly, even if it's out of the box. Indecision is deadly.

Gump